A Fire and a Shadow
by LinaNamiStar
Summary: She is the fire. He is the shadow. Thus, they are intertwined to make the perfect friendship because one needs to feel the warmth of the fire while the other needs to be protected by the shadow. May become romance NatxOC or friendship. Somewhat AU.
1. Prologue

**A/N**: I wanted to do a NathanxOC pairing just to see if it works but then I thought more of a friendship between him and my OC instead. I guess I'll see what happens when I write it, so there might be romance or maybe not. It's going to be somewhat AU. Also, it might not be as gruesome when his Repo side takes over. I guess you may call it a light fic, maybe. Not too sure for the future of this story. **Disclaimer**: I do not own Repo! The Genetic Opera or anything from it. Reviews would be nice but isn't necessary. Thank you for reading.

Prologue

Mornings became his savior. Nathan Wallace liked mornings because there were no monsters that he had to fight off. Every morning he would wake up and find himself taking care of his Shilo.

Just as soon as he woke up, he found it was already seven o'clock. His daily breakfast would come soon, and it was all thanks to a young woman he had met in a restaurant, who was also the delivery girl.

It was quite strange for Nathan Wallace, really. He wasn't the sociable type, but he had one day found himself in a rush to get some food for Shilo. After he finished his Repo duties, he had cleaned up himself and told Shilo he was going out again to buy dinner for them to eat. While he walked, he contemplated whether he should cook or not. It was by that time he stumbled at a restaurant next to the nearest grocery store. And of course, the grocery store was a little far off from his house. He looked through the menu before he ordered quite a few things and asked them for to-go. The restaurant was willing and then he met her, the delivery girl. Her name was Phoenix. He never really knew her last name, and he wasn't really one to ask.

"Yo, Wallace, you in there," the young lady shouted from outside his house. Nathan heard her and made his way out of the house and to the gate. He gave her a grateful smile, quite rare when it comes to other people.

"Thank you, Phoenix," he told her before he paid her the money while she exchanged the bag of food.

"No problem. Since I'm getting paid for this, you don't need to thank me," she said before shivering from the cold-filled air. It seemed the jacket she was wearing wasn't warm enough.

Nathan noticed and looked worried for her.

"Are you going to be okay making deliveries in this sort of weather," Nathan asked. Phoenix chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Gotta do it for the money, ya know," Phoenix said, "Thanks for the worry though. I've gotta go now. See you tomorrow." She gave him a small wave before departing to an old run down van.

"Stay safe," he told her when she was inside the van and when she turned on her van. Phoenix nodded.

"You too, Wallace," she said, smiling, before driving off.

He found the bag was still warm and smiled before he entered the house. He was honestly grateful towards the delivery girl. And for some reason, Shilo always emptied her plate without fail unlike before he found the special restaurant. Guess his cooking was terrible, but he didn't seem to mind at all. Just as long as Phoenix is the one delivering the food.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Hah, finally finished the first chapter for this story. Thank you to **LittleRepoBoy** and **5Faces** for reviewing. I greatly appreciate you two taking your time to post a review. **Warning**: there's a bit of gore, but it isn't that very detailed. Hope you guys like the first chapter.

Chapter One

After he had tucked the twelve year old Shilo to bed, he locked her room before he packed up his uniform and made his way to the GeneCo building. Today is actually one of the slower days of repossessions, which made Nathan Wallace relieved yet made his other side more irritated. After all, he only needed to do some paperwork duty for the day after it slowly piled up from the day before.

Just like always, Nathan had been deep in thought once more as he entered the building. He didn't take any notice of his surroundings before he rammed right into someone. Of course, he fell back just as the unfortunate being did the same. His Repo side suddenly appeared and was about to lash out to the person (though he was the one at fault) until he found out who it was.

"Phoenix?" Nathan called out in surprise. His Repo side had disappeared immediately as soon as he recognized her.

Phoenix stood up before rubbing her bum.

"Yo, Wallace. Never thought I would see you here," Phoenix said, surprised as well.

"I work here. And you?" He stood up as he patted off any dirt from the fall.

"Making payments for an organ replacement," Phoenix plainly answered as if it was nothing surprising.

"You had an organ replacement?" Nathan asked with a mix of surprise, worry, and fear.

He had obviously become attached to the younger woman before him, and he found himself at war against himself. To think he would have to repossess her organs never really entered his mind until now. He felt his stomach lurch forward in discomfort and his throat felt like some sort of vile had gotten stuck in his throat. He was about ready to vomit as he imagined the sickening image of Phoenix laying on the cold ground with her milk chocolate brown eyes wide open staring emptily at him. Her stomach cut open with such precision to reveal her organs while some of her intestines stuck out of her body. There was a pang of hurt inside of him, and he cursed himself for such a thankless job.

"Nah. I'm not the sort of person to owe or burden people," she said with a small smile before picking up her messenger bag and laying the strap around her shoulder.

As if her answer was like music to his ears, his stomach churned with a different feeling, a more comfortable kind. Her answer is enough for him to feel calm, and he didn't need to know who she was making payments for as long as it wasn't for her. Before he even noticed, his eyes blinked in surprise when Phoenix squinted her eyes to observe him.

"What is it, Phoenix?"

"Your hair... you need to groom yourself better, Wallace. You don't want to get fired for being messy, would you?" Phoenix joked. She chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Ease up, Wallace. Nobody likes a stiff."

"Yes, of course, Phoenix," he replied uncomfortably. Phoenix smiled as she looked at her communicator/watch.

"So you work at this time, huh? No wonder you're so groggy in the morning," Phoenix joked once more. Nathan made a face, making Phoenix laugh in reply. "I guess I should leave. I don't want to responsible for getting you fired for taking too much of your time."

"Don't worry about it, Phoenix. I am actually an hour early." Nathan smiled at her when she looked shock at his reply.

"Why the heck would you be an hour early for? You should take this time to have a bit of fun," Phoenix sternly told him but sighed soon after. "But then again, you don't look the type to relax."

It was Nathan's turn to laugh. Phoenix was unbelievably shocked to hear him laugh. Of the month she's chatted with him, she had never seen him laugh. It was then she smiled at the thought. She could feel Nathan was slowly opening up to a stranger like her. She never really pushed him to speak or forced him to do anything, really. And in a way, it made Nathan comfortable around her.

"Well, since you are an hour early and I have the rest of the night off, how about we get some coffee?"

"Coffee?" Nathan asked curiously. He never spent that much time with anyone, but he didn't seem at all uncomfortable about the idea of having coffee with Phoenix.

Phoenix shrugs her shoulders as if it's nothing wrong and said, " You don't like coffee? Or better the question is, do you want to have coffee with me?"

"Yes, coffee sounds fine," he replied, noticing Phoenix's questioning gaze. He was thankful she didn't force him to have coffee with her and quite glad she asked him instead of insisting to do something against his will. It was a nice change. She's a nice change. At least, she wasn't hitting on him. Well, he hoped she didn't. Maybe asking him for coffee was a way of hitting on him.

"Wallace, if you don't want to spend time drinking coffee with me, it's fine by me. You don't need to have that serious debating look on," Phoenix told him while rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," he told her before rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Guess he was overthinking as usual.

"You are such a strange man," Phoenix bluntly said before laughing. "But who isn't?"

"Coffee doesn't sound so bad," Nathan said, giving her a small smile. Phoenix nodded and smiled back.

"Coffee, it is then," Phoenix said with finality.

They both walked together out of the building. It wasn't a long walk as there was a cafe near the GeneCo building. They both ordered their drinks as they kept silent though it wasn't awkward between the two. Actually, it was one of those comfortable silences. Nathan was especially comfortable with it, comfortable with sitting beside Phoenix. Phoenix didn't seem to mind either. She seemed peaceful, really. She didn't looked uncomfortable than Nathan originally thought. But of course, Phoenix knew he wasn't the talkative type, so she didn't force him.

Just as they got their coffee, Nathan's co-workers saw him. Some of them were SurGENs with a few GENterns by their side. They greeted him with a fake smile on their faces. Nathan only kept silent in reply like always. They irritated him, especially when the GENterns tried to seduce him and how the SurGENs talked about him behind his back. Nathan gave a short peek towards Phoenix, wondering if she felt uncomfortable from the sudden interference.

She didn't seem irritated which made Nathan relieved. He went back to sipping his coffee, completely ignoring the company of his co-workers. But just as soon as he thought they would leave them alone if he ignored them, they suddenly tried to make conversation with Phoenix.

"Are you Wallace's friend?"

"Don't you find him boring?"

"You shouldn't get too close to him."

"Do you know what is real occupation is?"

The last question was the one that did Nathan in. He was really angry. He looked over at them with a deep, penetrating, and menacing gaze.

With a grunt, he said in his deep, raspy voice, "Leave. Us. Alone."

His Repo side revealed himself and that was enough to scare his co-workers off. His expression changed back to the quiet Nathan when he turned to apologize to Phoenix. But what he saw wasn't really surprising, Phoenix was obviously surprised.

"I- I'm sorry. I hope I didn't scare you," Nathan said quietly. He wouldn't be surprised either if Phoenix completely ignored him and left him alone. But somewhere inside of him, he felt his stomach churning unhappily at the thought.

"Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but I have to give you props, Wallace. You actually scared everyone off," Phoenix told him before she shrugged her fear away. "Even though they are annoying as heck, you shouldn't be in bad terms with your co-workers. You do work with them, afterall." She then returned to drinking her caramel mocha.

Nathan was rather surprised. Though scared she was, she continued to speak with him normally. This made Nathan smile. He was glad that Phoenix wasn't like everyone else.

"Are you curious about what I do at GeneCo?" Nathan asked her. He was a bit curious to know Phoenix's answer.

"Not really. Obviously, being a GENtern is out of the list," Phoenix said before examining Nathan up and down in a jokingly manner. "Unless, you are a woman under all that muscle."

"Phoenix!" Nathan yelled in complete astonishment. Phoenix chuckled at his reaction.

"I'm kidding, Wallace. From the way you behave, I just want to lighten up the mood. I'm sure if you wanted to tell me, you would have told me your occupation already," she told him calmly before blowing her mocha and sipping it again.

"Thank you, Phoenix," Nathan said before sipping his coffee. A smile formed on his lips as if the coffee made him feel rather warmer than usual.

"No problem, Wallace. That's what friends do though I should be a little more nosy than this." She smiled over at him before patting his shoulder lightly.

He had to admit Phoenix is special. And for some reason, it doesn't sound bad to think of her as a friend. A special friend.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Made another chapter, whee! Usually, I get lazy, but I did it. Thanks **5Faces** for reviewing. It's too bad fanfiction doesn't have the option of a prologue button then the chapters would be in the right order. I guess I had to rush the story a bit on this one because I need to get to the main story. I guess chapter one is a side story of sorts. **Warning!** Once again, there is a some gore, but it wouldn't be Repo if there wasn't. Enjoy!

Chapter Two

It had been two years since Phoenix officially became his friend. He had naturally become accustomed to the young lady ever since he met her, but the time at the cafe made it official. The days with her made Nathan feel quite at peace with himself and it may have been due to the fact that Phoenix never really rushed things and allowed him to decide whether or not he wanted to spend time with her if possible. And for some reason, it was hard to say "no" to her, but there were times he had to deny the warm invitation because of his blasted work. But even then, Phoenix didn't seem to mind. She respected him just like he respected her, and that is all he ever wanted.

On the other hand, the friendship between Nathan and Phoenix made Repo Nathan unhappy. It meant that he would have less time to corrupt Nathan and his goody-goody side, and he would have to take the back seat for a while. Oh, how Repo Nathan hated it.

But for now, Nathan Wallace was surprised. He had eagerly waited for Phoenix's arrival to deliver his food for the morning, but a different person took her place. And of course, he asked where Phoenix was? The delivery woman didn't know and left immediately after he paid her. Just as Nathan held the delivered food, he had noticed the bag wasn't warm and the fresh scent of the delicious food that usually hit his nose was not present. He wondered if it may have been due to someone other than Phoenix delivering the food had made it feel different. When he laid the bag of food on the table, he had found the food wasn't warm at all and he had to warm the food up.

As Shilo got up excitedly to eat her breakfast, she found after a few bites the taste was different. She only ate some of it before she pushed her plate away and looked at her father with a frown.

"Dad, it tastes different," she complained even Nathan noticed the big difference. He also ate midway before he had to stop himself. The food was still good, but it wasn't as good when Phoenix delivered it.

"I know, Shi, but you need to finish your food," Nathan told his young daughter.

Shilo huffed before she started eating again, but she could only finish halfway before she felt full. Nathan didn't force her either because even he felt unaccustomed to the new taste, but he was more worried about Phoenix. Thankfully, he would meet her later on tonight at his workplace to ask her. They usually get coffee together an hour before Nathan had to go to work. It had been a custom for them ever since they went to the cafe together, and it was one of those moments Nathan felt at ease. It was especially important that she would meet him on this day at his workplace because it was the time Phoenix made the payments for someone's organ replacement. She never missed those days even when she got a small cold in which Nathan told her to get some rest as soon as she got home.

Surprisingly, she never came today. Nathan even looked for her at the cafe before he had to go straight to work, almost being late. He couldn't focus on his paperwork because his mind was still on Phoenix. She would never miss the date to pay GeneCo. He knew something must be wrong. Repo Nathan took this chance to appear.

"_Maybe she's avoiding you. You were always one to scare people away_," Repo Nathan taunted in his raspy voice before he chuckled in Nathan's head.

"_Shut up!" _Nathan growled in his mind.

"_Feisty, aren't ya?_" Repo chuckled. "_Maybe she's bored of you. You never talk. All you do is hide in the corner and wait like the poor sad boy that you are."_

"_I will kill you_," Nathan threatened. His eyes turning dark to show he was serious.

"_Yeah, you tried that. Didn't work. Remember, we are two-halves of the same whole. You kill me then you kill yourself_," Repo said smugly. "_And what would poor Shilo do when she finds out her father killed himself and left her all alone to fend for herself?_" He asked in the sweetest voice Repo could muster.

"_I hate you_," Nathan replied gruffly.

"_Like that's anything new_," Repo replied before he suddenly have a thought, "_Maybe your little Phoenix friend got killed off, ya know. A woman like her, in the middle of the night, something is bound to happen. I can imagine it now. She got raped and then killed on the street. She gets cut open and all her organs get sold off. Isn't that great? Oh, I would love to feel her blood on my hands_. _Hear her scream my name. Taste her fear. Watch her eyes wide open, staring blankly at me while her stomach reveals her insides as she lay naked on the ground."_

"_You monster_," Nathan spat angrily. He could feel himself boiling up in anger at the fiend.

"_Yeah. Yeah. Assassin. Murderer. Monster. I already know for the nth time_," Repo replied boredly as if it was nothing unusual.

"Wallace!" A voice yelled, making Nathan stop arguing with Repo Nathan. His eyes looked up to find a fellow Repo man trying to get his attention.

"Yes? What do you need?" Nathan asked.

"Rotti Largo says we can go home. There's nothing useful for us to do here, and he will call us for any assignments that comes up," his co-worker told him. Nathan merely nodded before he watched his co-worker leave.

"_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The Phoenix is dead_," Repo Nathan sang.

Nathan clenched his fist as he walked into the lonely darkness. Before he knew it, he found himself in front of Phoenix's workplace. He went inside the restaurant and saw Phoenix's boss. When her boss looked up, he sighed.

"Are you Nathan Wallace?" Her boss asked. Nathan only nodded, wondering how he knew him unless he had a keen memory. "She told me in detail what you look like before she left. Phoenix must have known you will ask about her, so here's her address if you want to find her."

"Does she still work here?" Nathan blurted out before he even noticed. Her boss sighed and shook his head.

"Sadly, no. She quit after something tragic happened to her last night. She was actually one of my best employees. All of that hard work she's done. All of that will she had. All of it is wasted. When you see her, tell her that she is welcome to come back to work for me. This place is always open for her," the boss said before he handed a small parchment to Nathan.

Nathan thanked him before walking out of the restaurant. His mind started reeling from what her boss told him. Something bad had happened to Phoenix, but what could it be?

Without waiting until morning, he immediately went to her address. He found out Phoenix lived in an apartment complex on the third floor. He searched for her number and stood in front of her door. Nathan waited for a small moment before he built enough courage to knock on her door. There was no answer which made Nathan worried. He knocked a few more times, still no answer.

Repo Nathan started to flash violent images of what may have happened to Phoenix to Nathan. It amused Repo Nathan at how easily Nathan could be influenced. Nathan growled in reply, but he couldn't help himself from barging into her apartment room. The top hinge of the door went loose from Nathan's violent attempt to get through to the other side. The flat was dark and he could only see one single light. He made his way to it and found himself in front of another door, maybe a room. He called out Phoenix's name. Still, no answer. Thankfully, the door was opened a bit so he could sneek a peek before opening the door fully.

"_Perverted, aren't you?_" Repo Nathan mocked. Nathan replied with a hiss in his mind.

Nathan saw no one and completely opened the door. He went inside the room and looked around the room. Nathan confirmed it to be a bedroom. He was about to continue to search but noticed the bathroom door open. He knocked at the open door, no answer. He entered it and his eyes went wide. There, on the ground was Phoenix. He immediately went by her side, searching for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he found one. A little faint but it meant she was still alive. He carried her bridal style and hurried to the nearest clinic he could find instead of going to GeneCo . He was afraid GeneCo would do more harm than good for his friend.

Thankfully, Phoenix was okay. It seemed the lack of food had caused her to faint. Nathan got up but looked reluctant to leave Phoenix's side. He wanted to spend the night by her side, but he could not allow himself to leave Shilo alone. Between Phoenix and Shilo, Shilo is still his number one priority. Before he left though, he had told the doctor and nurse to call him whenever she wakes up. Nathan took one more glance at Phoenix's unconscious body and left. His shoulders suddenly felt heavy and wondered what may have happened to Phoenix.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Yes, another chapter updated! Thank you **Soup-chan** and **PyramidHeadTheRepo** (almost didn't recognize your name) for the reviews. I appreciate you guys for taking your time. I know this is a bit cheesy and all, and I know Nathan Wallace would ever open up to a stranger. But I like the possibilities. I've got to apologize Soup-chan but Repo Nathan wouldn't be in the story as much. I'm not that much of a gorey writer, so he'll make brief appearances. Hopefully, I will find a way to characterize Repo Nathan more successfully.

Chapter Three

Just after Nathan Wallace and Shilo finished breakfast, he had told Shilo to stay in her room while he went out for a bit. Fourteen year old Shilo did as she was told before Nathan locked the door and left to go to the clinic where Phoenix resides in. After he signed in, he went to take a peek on Phoenix to see her still lying unconscious.

He had sat on a chair next to her bed. He found it difficult to watch her like this. The way she looked so weak scared him. Repo Nathan suddenly flashed the moments of his late wife being ill to the time Nathan had to slice her stomach open to save Shilo.

"No. No. No," Nathan whispered to himself while his whole body shook at the images. He could feel the pang of hurt and guilt enter his heart. Repo Nathan laughed. His haunting laugh Nathan hated so much.

The images soon disappeared when Nathan heard a groan. He looked over at Phoenix and saw her starting to stir. Phoenix groaned again before she blinked several times. She then slowly sat up. She looked around until her eyes met Nathan's.

"W-Wallace?" She questioned, her voice weak and raspy.

"Are you all right?" Nathan asked, leaning in to get a closer inspection and helping Phoenix in a more comfortable position. Phoenix cleared her throat to get her normal voice back.

"Yeah, I guess. How did I get here anyways?" Phoenix asked calmly.

Nathan was surprised to see her calm and composed after she fainted yesterday. She reacted as if nothing had happened to her. Was this normal?

"I carried you here when I found you lying unconscious inside your bathroom," Nathan answered. He suddenly brushed his hand against Phoenix's hair. He could feel the soft texture of her red hair against his fingers, reminding him of Marni's hair.

Phoenix stared at him questioningly before Nathan pulled back his hand when he realized what he had done. He whispered a low apology but Phoenix seemed not to mind.

"How did you know where I live? I never told you my address," Phoenix said, looking rather confused.

"Your boss gave me your address saying you knew I was coming to look for you and said that you gave him your address so he could give it to me," Nathan explained. Phoenix continued to look confused making Nathan become confused with her.

"I never said that. I only phoned him about my situation and that I was quitting. I guess my boss was worried about me and used that excuse so that you would check in on me," Phoenix said, clarifying the confusion on her face. "Thanks anyways, Wallace. I guess I do make people worry."

Nathan stared at her and noticed how sad she looked. She looked to meet up with his eyes again but quickly turned away.

"I guess I will check myself out since I'm not sick," she said while she was about to get up, but Nathan stopped her. Phoenix was surprised at the sudden motion.

"You didn't eat anything, did you?" Nathan asked seriously. Phoenix avoided his gaze, which clarified Nathan's question. "I'll get you something to eat. Don't even think about moving, Phoenix. You are still a patient." Nathan got up but Phoenix held his wrist. He looked over at her before she smiled sadly at him.

"Thanks, Wallace. I owe you," she told him before she let go of him.

"You're my friend, Phoenix. It's nothing to worry about," Nathan told her before leaving.

Before he knew it, he brought plenty of food since he had forgotten to ask what Phoenix wanted to eat. He stopped his tracks and dropped the snacks on the floor when he saw Phoenix nowhere in sight inside the room. He rushed out and was about to ask a nurse on Phoenix's whereabouts before he bumped into someone. He was about to angrily lash out but stopped himself when it was Phoenix. Phoenix massaged her hurt shoulder and looked over at Nathan.

"You like to bump into me, don't you Wallace?" Phoenix jokingly asked.

"Where did you go? I thought you left," Nathan said worriedly. Phoenix sighed before patting his shoulder.

"Calm down, Wallace. Are you always this overly worried?" Phoenix asked. Nathan huffed before Phoenix chuckled at his childish behavior. "I just went to the bathroom, that's all."

"You should get to eating," Nathan told her. Phoenix held his wrist. Nathan turned around in confusion.

"Wallace..." Phoenix started. Nathan became startled at Phoenix's sudden sad expression.

"What is it, Phoenix? Are you all right?" Nathan asked before he held her arms.

"Go home. You don't need to worry about me," she told him seriously.

"Not until I see you eat." He looked over at her as if she was his own child.

Phoenix rolled her eyes and said mockingly, "Yes, Dad."

"Phoenix," he warned before they stared at each other for a moment and suddenly laughed soon afterwards.

"Do you really have time to stay and watch me eat?" Phoenix asked. He remembered Shilo, but he figured she would be watching cartoons at this time.

"Just for a little while, enough to see if you are eating," Nathan told her. Phoenix nodded though she seemed rather reluctant about it.

They walked together into the room of her hospital bed. She found her supposed food on the ground and looked over at him questioningly.

"You are going to eat these with me," Phoenix told him, not allowing any argument. Nathan smiled and nodded. She kneeled down to pick the food up with Nathan helping as well. Thankfully, they were wrapped up, so it wouldn't be wasted.

Phoenix and Nathan ate silently inside the room. Phoenix found it hard to eat when Nathan stared at her while eating. At first, Phoenix didn't seem to mind, but the way he stared at her was a little too weird.

"Wallace, no matter how long you stare at me, I'm not gonna disappear suddenly," Phoenix told him, "It's actually a bit creepy."

Nathan looked at her surprised and whispered, "Sorry. I'm just..."

"Worried? Got it. But you really don't need to be," she said before her face suddenly came close to his. Nathan was, of course, startled at the sudden closeness. Nathan could even feel her hot breath against his lips. Her fingers trailed lightly against his skin under his eyes. "Look, there are wrinkles and bags under your eyes. It's making you old, Wallace."

He could feel her cool fingers leaving his skin as she sat back to her original position. She continued to finish off her sandwich while she left Nathan speechless. It took a moment before Nathan could get his composure back.

"I'd better leave. I've got other businesses to tend to," Nathan told her. Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"I told you that you didn't need to stay with me." Nathan completely ignored the comment. "Well, it's been fun seeing you, Wallace."

"I'll come visit later," Nathan told her while his stare lingered on her a bit too long. Phoenix waved at him before he nodded and left her reluctantly behind.

He had gone home to check up on Shilo. Thankfully, he was right on time to watch her take her medicine. He felt guilty whenever she did though, but something inside him wouldn't allow him to stop or hesitate. He was going to do everything in his power to keep her safe and away from anyone or anything that would take his Shilo away.

"Where did you go, dad?" Shilo asked, her eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Ah, to visit a... friend," he admitted. He could feel his cheeks blush in embarrassment. Even though he is still an adult, he still felt a little funny to consider someone as a friend.

"Really?" Shilo squealed, "Is your friend going to come visit?"

Nathan was shocked for a small moment before he smiled and said, "We'll see."

"_Don't tell me you are really thinking about it? Have you forgotten Shilo is a secret?_" his Repo side reminded him. Nathan growled inside his head and frowned.

He felt his mind in a slump. He wondered what may have happened to Phoenix that made her not eat and quit her job. He wanted to ask her that very moment when she woke up but found himself not able to.

He made his way to GeneCo building to get his first assignment. He looked over at it carefully before he went to work. After a quick incision and taking out the organ, he was about to make his way home, but he stopped his tracks when he saw a familiar presence. He hid quietly nearby and found Phoenix looking up at the night sky in the middle of the street. He wondered what Phoenix was doing there before she continued to make her way to a make-shift grave. He had gotten closer but not enough for Phoenix to notice. He watched her kneel down before he saw her starting to weep. After a few minutes, she stood up before she put down some flowers to the grave. He noticed her take something out of her sleeve. It was glistening under the moonlight until he realized what it was, a knife. He hurriedly came out of his hiding. Phoenix turned around when she heard footsteps and gasped at the sight of the Repo Man. Her demeanor changed from fear to being calm. Almost.

"Are you not scared?" Nathan asked using a deeper voice to hide his real one. He couldn't let Phoenix know it was him.

"I would be lying if I wasn't," she told him. She turned away, ignoring his presence and thinking the Repo Man will continue on his way. She was about ready to continue what she was about to do before Repo interrupted. Nathan dropped his things and held her wrist that held the knife. She looked at him startled.

"What are you doing?" Phoenix shouted, angry that the Repo Man interrupted her again. He hit her at her pressure point on her neck, making her unconscious. He took away the knife and dropped it on the ground while he stared at her unconscious body.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N**: I thought about posting this on Thanksgiving, but that day is spent on family and friends. So instead, I'm posting this and my other Repo story today. Thank you to **Soup-chan** and **PyramidHeadTheRepo **for the reviews. I am very thankful for your kindness. Here is the newest chapter!

Chapter Four

Nathan asked Rotti Largo if there were any other assignments before he headed home. Thankfully, there were none. He immediately left and had changed out of his Repo uniform and took off his helmet immediately afterwards. He hurriedly checked on Phoenix where he had laid her into one of the GeneCo's vacant rooms before carrying Phoenix once again. Without thinking, he took her home and laid her on a couch in his living room.

It was then Nathan felt anxious. Was it even a good idea to take her to his house? What about Shilo? Will Phoenix tell anyone about her?

His thoughts were soon interrupted when Phoenix started stirring. She opened her eyes to look around and found Nathan staring at her. She looked confused and surprised.

"Wallace? How did I get here? And why do I always meet you at the weirdest of times?" Phoenix asked before sitting up and looking around again. She noticed the many pictures of one woman almost everywhere.

Nathan couldn't help but smile at the last of her questions before he cleared his throat to get his composure back.

"I was passing by and found you lying unconscious on the ground," Nathan answered. Phoenix looked at him in disbelief before she shrugged her shoulders, accepting the answer for now. "Why did you leave the clinic?"

"Hm? Oh. Well, I had to go some place," she answered simply as if hiding something. Nathan noticed her change in demeanor. She looked sad, but she tried so hard to hide it.

"I thought something bad had happened to you. I was glad you were breathing when I found you," Nathan told her. Phoenix smiled at him in reply.

"Thanks, Wallace. I guess I owe you again. So where am I?" Phoenix asked. Nathan was a little surprised at how calm she seemed. Usually, people would become frantic and asked so many questions, but she didn't. Well, she did ask questions, but it wasn't one of those ask all questions in one breath kind.

"My home," Nathan answered rather nervously. It was too obvious even Phoenix knew.

"Oh, really? Hm... well, I don't want to intrude, so I'll be leaving," Phoenix told him before standing up. Nathan looked up at her and held her wrist. Phoenix looked at him questioningly.

"It's too dangerous to go out at this time of night," Nathan explained before letting go of her wrist. Phoenix smiled but shrugged.

"I'm not afraid. Not after I lost my... brother," Phoenix said quietly. She could feel her tears slowly building up in her eyes.

"Your brother?" Nathan asked. Phoenix nodded.

"He killed himself. They took him away and repossessed his organ. It happened so quick that only a note was left for me to understand," Phoenix said as tears finally fell from her eyes. Nathan held her quickly so she could cry on his arm freely. He didn't need to clarify who the "they" were. He knew she meant GeneCo.

"Shh," he could only sound to sooth her before he held her tightly but not enough to hurt her.

It didn't take long before she got out of Nathan's hold. Nathan knew she hadn't finished crying but let her be.

"I think it's better if I left. I already made you uncomfortable as it is."

"No, Phoenix. Not at this time of hour. You could sleep in my room. I'll take this couch," Nathan said, not letting Phoenix utter a single word of going out in the dangerous night. Phoenix sighed, giving up on trying to get away when Nathan gave her a determined look. He wasn't going to back down and Phoenix was way too tired to object.

"You are demanding at times, you know that," Phoenix joked before settling on the couch, "But I will take the couch, if you please."

"Only if you promise me you won't leave until I allow you to do so," Nathan said with a smirk even though he was serious as well. Phoenix rolled her eyes before walking to him and poked at Nathan's chest.

"Sometimes, you amaze me, Wallace. And fine, I don't have much of a choice anyways. I would feel weird sleeping on your bed," Phoenix said with a sigh before lying on the couch, "Although the couch does feel comfortable."

"I'll take a shower. I'm going to check up on you after I finish," he told her. Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"Really, Wallace? You're treating me like a rebellious teenager, but I have you know I am twenty-eight years old. I know how to keep my promises," Phoenix said in a jokingly manner before she had to chuckle herself. Nathan couldn't help but smile. "Well, Dad. Get yourself cleaned up."

Nathan rolled his eyes before he got up. He gave one warm look at Phoenix which she returned gratefully with her own before he left to get a towel with his pajamas and underwear. Just as he turned on the shower, he couldn't help but feel he made the right decision to make Phoenix stay. He couldn't let her go when she lost her brother. It was then the image of her holding a knife replayed in his mind. He wondered if it was okay for him to leave her alone like this. He took a quick shower before he only put on his underwear and his pajama pants. He could wear the shirt later and quietly went down the stairs. He didn't find her on the couch. He was about to go outside but he saw Phoenix out of the kitchen. She looked over at Nathan and found her blushing.

"Wear a shirt, Wallace," she said before turning away. Nathan looked at her strangely before he walked up to her.

"What's wrong with being shirtless?"

"I-I feel uncomfortable when I see a guy shirtless. I even feel uncomfortable when my brother takes off his shirt," Phoenix admitted truthfully. Nathan stared at her back for a moment before he couldn't help but laugh. She turned back and frowned.

"S-Sorry, Phoenix, b-but it is just too funny. You don't look like the type that gets embarrassed by that," he said in between chuckles.

"Oh, shut it, Wallace," she growled before she suddenly poured her cup of water on top of him. Nathan gasped at the chill and growled at her.

"What was that for?" he asked quietly in anger.

"For laughing at me. And anyways, your shower was too quick. I just helped you get a little cleaner," she said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"You are so petty."

"It takes one to know one."

It was then they glared at each other for a moment. And before they knew it, they laughed.

"I never knew you were this childish, Phoenix," Nathan said.

"Never knew you would play along, Wallace," Phoenix replied back but then realized Nathan was still half-naked. She quickly turned away and said, "But could you just wear a shirt."

Nathan chuckled before he went upstairs. He wore his shirt and was about to go downstairs before he had heard a thump in Shilo's room. He took a peek in her room and saw Shilo on the ground. He hurriedly came to her side and picked the young girl up before setting her down on her bed.

"Shi, are you all right?" Nathan asked worriedly, looking to see if there were any injuries. He noticed a small bruise on her knee. He tended to it immediately with the first aid kit he had put in her room.

"Yes, Dad. I just wanted to get something to drink but I tripped and fell," Shilo explained while she watched her father tending any wounds like always. He had finished after she replied before putting back the first aid kit.

"I'll go get you a glass of water then. I'll be right back, precious," he told her before he kissed her forehead and went downstairs.

Nathan ignored Phoenix when he entered the kitchen to get Shilo some water, but Phoenix didn't seem to mind. She just shrugged and lied on the couch, ready to sleep and planned to leave Nathan's house in the morning.

Nathan took a glimpse of Phoenix when he had Shilo's water. He noticed Phoenix looking at the ceiling before he went upstairs. After he placed her glass of water for his daughter, he closed her door and started to get a blanket before he went downstairs again. By the time he got there, he saw Phoenix sitting down with her head bowed low. He could hear her sniffle though it was almost quiet.

"You were my only living relative, Apollo. So why? Why have you left me alone?" Phoenix whispered in such a painful tone.

Nathan clutched his hand to a fist as he held the blanket tightly against his chest. He knew how she felt. He lost his late wife to take care of Shilo all alone.

"You weren't a burden. Why couldn't you see all that work I've done was for you to live? You weren't supposed to take it away like this. I should have noticed something was wrong. I should have stayed by your side. It's all my fault I lost you. Now, that you left me. What should I do now? Should I just leave Sanitarium Island behind and see if I could survive out there?" Phoenix continued.

Nathan's eyes widened and his whole body froze. Her leaving Sanitarium Island? She couldn't. It's dangerous out there for her to travel alone.

"Heh, funny how things go. Just when everything seems fine, it suddenly changes. I guess I can risk it now that you are gone. I can't believe the younger brother dies before his older sister. I am your older sister; I should have been the one to die first not you. If only you knew how much it hurts me, would you have continued to do the same thing?" Phoenix said quietly before tears started to fall again.

She lied on the couch and looked up at the ceiling before closing her eyes.

"I guess I will... Pack. Up. In. The. Morning," she said slowly before she let sleep embrace her.

When she turned silent, Nathan took a peek and saw Phoenix sleeping. He let out a sigh before he came out of his hiding. He laid the blanket over her before he noticed the tears on her face. He gently wiped them away with his thumb.

"I can't let you go, Phoenix. I can't let you risk your life going out into the world alone," Nathan murmured.

Phoenix started to shift, making Nathan freeze on the spot. He even held in his breath. Phoenix stayed silent, letting Nathan breathe again a few seconds later. He started to sit on the couch opposite of the couch Phoenix was sleeping on. Nathan just stared at her sleeping figure for a little while before he lied on the couch as well, still staring at her. He yawned several minutes later and slowly let sleep take him.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for reviewing, **The Nobody Prince**. Finally got this chapter up. Hopefully, this is a good enough chapter. I actually liked writing this chapter.

Chapter Five

Nathan stirred from his slumber when a scent of oil hit his nose. He grumbled a bit before he sat up and wipes the sleep from his eyes while he yawned. He noticed a blanket covering him and found Phoenix gone. He got into the kitchen and stopped his tracks with widened eyes. There, in front of him, is Phoenix cooking up breakfast. Delicious breakfast, mind you. Phoenix was so absorbed in cooking that she didn't notice Nathan standing there as if he saw the most horrific movie he has ever seen. Almost too speechless to even speak, it took a while before he found his voice to speak with.

"Phoenix?" He could only utter, his voice almost cracking from shock.

Phoenix turned around and smiled as if her cooking was no surprise. Her light red copper colored hair was tied up in a ponytail while she wore an apron that had a logo containing a large chocolate chip cookie that had been bitten into. It had been placed in between the sentences of "Bite Me." and "I'm Delicious."

"Yo, Wallace. I made breakfast. I saw that you had some leftover ingredients and made something. Hope ya don't mind," Phoenix said, smiling happily as if cooking relieved her night of crying. She held a pan containing a few sausages.

"Thanks, Phoenix, but you shouldn't have," Nathan told her, feeling guilty that his guest was cooking.

"Oh? Did you already order food?" Phoenix asked before she shrugged and plopped the last of the sausages on the dish. Phoenix made plenty of food for three people to eat, almost four if she done any more. "I guess I can just pack it up and give it to my ex-boss."

"No, not at all. I just... it's inappropriate for a guest to cook while the master of the house does nothing," Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Phoenix chuckled before she said, "Who said you are doing nothing?" Nathan raised his right brow in confusion. She chuckled at how dense he is. "I mean you should start setting the table. I already cooked for you, haven't I?"

Nathan stared for a moment before smiling and nodded. It felt weird to Nathan now that his usual mornings had been altered to waking up and seeing Phoenix cook for the first time. Nathan was still a bit shocked, really. He had never perceived Phoenix as the type to cook. He had hoped her food was as delicious as it seems. He didn't want to imagine how terrible it tasted. He had enough of it of his own cooking experiments. Thankfully, his cooking is quite mediocre at best. Shilo was rather a picky eater.

It was then Nathan froze midway of setting the table, a plate in his hand. Phoenix didn't know about Shilo, and Shilo didn't know about Phoenix. This was rather a predicament Nathan was in. Should he greet his daughter to Phoenix? His worries from the night before returned. Will Shilo's life be in danger now that Phoenix knows? Would Phoenix keep Shilo's existence a secret?

"Dad?" Shilo's voice asked on the other side of the door to the kitchen.

Nathan felt his body run cold before he slowly looked over at Phoenix. Phoenix looked at him confused, wondering who that girlish voice belongs to. Nathan immediately put down the plate on the table before opening the door to reveal the fourteen year old Shilo, rubbing her right eye sleepily.

"Dad?" Shilo repeated when Nathan tried to hide Shilo with his body. It startled Shilo when he suddenly towered over her.

"Precious, are you hungry?" Nathan asked, trying not to sound nervous. Weirdly enough, Nathan felt like he was hiding a horrible secret (though he really was but not in this instance). It almost felt like he was cheating on someone with another person (not that he knew how that felt).

Phoenix kept silent. She really wasn't one to pry in Nathan's life, so she continued to watch, not saying or doing anything. It wasn't like Phoenix was his lover or anything, so she didn't really mind at all.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Shilo asked, noticing how strange he was acting.

"Oh, nothing is wrong, Shi. Why don't you go upstairs for a bit? Breakfast would be ready soon," Nathan said sweetly like a father should.

Shilo looked over at him for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, Dad. Breakfast smells delicious though," she told him before hesitantly leaving at first but then just walked normally upstairs.

Nathan let out a sigh before turning to meet Phoenix's gaze. He felt his voice was caught in his throat. Phoenix noticed how uncomfortable he looked before she started taking off her apron.

"I just wanted to make breakfast for you to return a favor for saving me. Now that it's morning, I'm gonna leave," Phoenix told him. She was about to make way to leave, but Nathan stood in the way. Phoenix looked up at him confused.

"Could you keep a secret about her? Nobody knows she exists," Nathan said before Phoenix looked over at him for a moment, wondering about what he just told her but didn't ask about it.

"I don't pry into other people's business or talk to others about someone else's life, so it wouldn't be a problem, Wallace. And anyways, I've decided to leave Sanitarium Island and never come back," Phoenix told him with a shrug. Nathan had forgotten about her leaving until she finally confirmed it to him.

"You shouldn't go," Nathan said worriedly.

"Wallace, what are you-" she started before he interrupted her.

"Breakfast," Nathan blurted suddenly.

"What?" Phoenix asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Did you eat breakfast? If not, I would like for you to join my daughter and me for breakfast," he told her, not knowing where this sudden invitation was coming from.

"Wallace, I shouldn't intrude. I only promised in staying for the night," Phoenix said, now feeling awkward for the invitation.

"Yes, but you are not allowed to leave until I tell you do so. I told you last night and you even agreed to it," Nathan reminded her. Phoenix brows creased in frustration.

"You can't possibly mean I should have your permission to leave your house. I don't even live here," Phoenix said exasperatedly.

"True. But you owe me," Nathan replied. Phoenix groaned before finally realizing Nathan could have this sort of side to him.

"I guess... it doesn't hurt to have breakfast with you guys," she answered reluctantly before letting out a sigh.

"Good. I want you to meet my daughter," Nathan said smugly. For some reason, Phoenix felt irritated by it.

Not long after, Shilo, Nathan, and Phoenix sat in the dining room table. Shilo was rather surprised to meet Phoenix. This was the first time she ever met anyone besides her father. It actually cheered Shilo up. Nathan couldn't help but smile at his daughter's excitement from meeting his friend.

"My name is Shilo," Shilo greeted with an angelic smile.

"Nice to meet you, Shilo. I'm Phoenix," Phoenix said, returning her smile with her own.

"Are you really Daddy's friend?" Shilo asked curiously. Nathan sighed, knowing Shilo would attack Phoenix with a hundred questions soon.

"Yep. Can't believe your dad would be friends with a person like me, huh?" Phoenix asked, chuckling.

Nathan cleared his throat to catch both their attentions before they continued to talk.

"We should eat breakfast first. It will get cold," Nathan said.

Shilo pouted but ate anyways. Phoenix smiled and ate her breakfast as well. As for Nathan, he had on a hidden smile before doing the same. It was then Shilo and Nathan found the food to have a familiar taste to it. It had tasted like the breakfast Phoenix delivered once. Nathan and Shilo turned their heads towards Phoenix. Phoenix noticed their stare and look at them questioningly, her fork still in her mouth. She took it out, chewed her food, and gulped.

"What?" Phoenix asked.

"This tastes like the food you delivered," Nathan said.

"Phoenix is the one that delivered our food?" Shilo asked looking over at her father in shock at the sudden news.

Phoenix shrugged as if it was nothing and said, "Yeah. I deliver the food I cook. I make sure the food gets delivered while it's still warm. That's why your food is always warm."

Nathan and Shilo were both shocked. Not only does she deliver the food, she was also one of the chefs cooking at the restaurant. Nathan did not see that coming.

"If you two are finished being in shock, the food is going to get cold," Phoenix told him before she started eating again and so did the rest.

The plates were empty as Phoenix was surprised at how much Shilo ate. For a small and skinny girl like her, she ate quite a lot for her size. Nathan couldn't even beat her big stomach. Nathan decided to clean the dishes with Shilo helping out.

Phoenix smiled as she watched the two. It reminded her of her and her brother washing their dishes. Tears started to brim her eyes. She had to turn away for a bit to fight back her composure. She couldn't allow herself to wallow up in sadness inside Nathan's house. Right at that moment, Nathan took a peek over at Phoenix. He would have thought Phoenix would be smiling now, but he saw her face turned away and noticed she was trying to hold back her emotions. He turned back with washing the dishes as he felt hurt as well from Phoenix's pained expression for some reason. He heard Shilo giggle before Nathan tried to smile, pretending he didn't see Phoenix in pain.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N**: I completely forgot about this story. I was so into my other story that I couldn't help but update it. I've got other stories I've neglected, so I guess I will try to continue the others. I actually made a few chapters for this story already made. I just never updated it or even looked through it yet. But yeah, here is the next chapter. Thank you to The **Nobody Prince**, **Soup-Chan**, **Bella 3**, and **Spot'sGalFrom1899** for the lovely reviews.

Chapter Six

Nathan did not know how this happened, but Shilo was the one with great authority right now. Just after they finished breakfast, Shilo took Phoenix's wrist and dragged her to her room. She showed Phoenix her bug collection and her stuffed animals she had so far. Pretty much, Phoenix was rather surprised at the sudden showcase. There was nothing wrong with the bug collection or the stuffed animals; it's just that Phoenix was surprised to see Shilo open up to her like that. She was, after all, a stranger. Shilo only known her not too long ago and wasn't hesitant to show her private collection. By now, Phoenix knew a lot about Shilo. Her favorite idol is Blind Mag, but that was no surprise. Her dream was to go outside, making Phoenix wonder if she ever went outside at least once before. There was such a long list even Phoenix couldn't contain all of the information. Finally, Nathan stepped in to save the day though it would have been better if he had done so earlier. Nathan had to humor himself when he watched Phoenix becoming slowly perplexed by Shilo. He had to smile at how lost Phoenix looked when Shilo talked fast. It was also the first time Shilo became so excited. He had never seen Shilo so happy before.

"Shi, precious, I need to speak to Phoenix for a little while," Nathan said.

Shilo looked over at her father reluctantly with a frown on her face. She looked like she was about to pout but Phoenix laid a hand on Shilo's shoulder for reassurance.

"I'll be back," Phoenix told her. Shilo looked over at her for a moment before she nodded sadly.

"You promise, right?" Shilo asked hopefully.

Phoenix smiled before looking over at Nathan Wallace.

"It's a promise right?" Phoenix asked Nathan. Nathan looked at Phoenix then at Shilo. Nathan nodded.

"It's a promise," Nathan said. Shilo smiled brightly. Phoenix chuckled before making her way towards Nathan.

Nathan closed the door behind him when they were outside Shilo's door. Nathan continued his way down the hall and looked at Phoenix.

"Sorry about Shilo," Nathan apologized. Phoenix just smiled.

"Nothing to apologize about. Shilo is a good kid. A little hyper, but she's a good kid," Phoenix told him, making Nathan smile yet he suddenly frowned.

"Did she tell you about her blood disease?" Nathan asked. Phoenix sighed and nodded.

"Yeah. She told me she couldn't go outside because of it," Phoenix answered.

"She got it from her mother," Nathan lied, knowing very well he would go down under for lying and blaming Marni for the blood disease.

"Yeah, she told me," Phoenix replied at the sudden comment. Complete silence took over them as they only stared at each other.

"Can you not leave Sanitarium Island?" Nathan asked suddenly. Phoenix looked over at him questioningly.

"Why the sudden urge to stop me?"

"I- Well, Shilo likes you," Nathan said, looking down. He heard her sigh before he felt her coming close to him. He looked to see her face very close to his face.

"I am glad to have met you and Shilo." Phoenix smiled before giving Nathan some space. "But even if I stayed in Sanitarium Island, I've got no home to go to. The owner of the apartment I lived in called me last night. I've got ten days to evict myself."

"What? Why did the owner kick you out?" Nathan asked. Images of her on the street plagued his mind, and he remembered the image the Repo gave when he was worried about what may have happened to her on the night she did not pay for her brother's organ replacement. His whole body stiffened at the images.

"He didn't want any more trouble, so he just kicked me out," Phoenix answered simply but noticed Nathan acting odd. "Wallace? Are you all right?"

"Hm? What did you say again?" Nathan asked when his thoughts were disrupted by Phoenix's voice and noticed her staring at him worriedly.

"I said, the owner didn't want any more trouble, so he kicked me out," Phoenix repeated. She sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Wallace, is there any other reason why you want to stop me from leaving?" Phoenix asked seriously.

"What?" Nathan asked shocked. The question was so sudden even he doesn't know the answer. He never really thought about it either.

"Never mind," Phoenix told him before sighing, "I guess... I will stay instead of leaving if it really matters to you."

"Really? Phoenix is staying with us, Dad?" Shilo said, appearing without them knowing. Nathan and Phoenix turned their heads. Nathan was shocked, and Phoenix groaned at the misunderstanding. Shilo looked so excited too.

"You've got it wrong, Precious. She's not staying with us, right Phoenix?" Nathan asked her, turning his head back to her.

"Sorry, Shilo," Phoenix confirmed with an apology. Shilo looked down making Phoenix feel awkward. She even looked over at Nathan to do something.

"But... Phoenix will stay for the night until she finds a place tomorrow," Nathan said. Shilo's head snapped up with excitement.

On the other hand, Phoenix was completely shocked by the sudden news. Her demeanor changed to that of frustration. She then called out Nathan's name quietly in anger. Nathan looked apologetic towards her. Before she even realized it, Shilo took her by the hand and continued the conversation they had before while Phoenix started being half-dragged to Shilo's room.

"_What are you doing? Now, our daughter would never want her to leave_," Repo yelled angrily in his head.

"_I can't let her sleep in the streets, and I'm not letting her leave Sanitarium Island either. She's our friend_," Nathan told him.

"_She's your friend, not mine. I don't even like her. If she knew you had a monster like me inside you, she would never accept you_," Repo spat.

"_True, but..._" Nathan paused, looking at how happy Shilo is while Phoenix tried her best to follow Shilo's speed.

"_But? There are not buts, you idiot. It's either she hates you and cuts ties with you or she will be in fear of you and try to run away from you_," Repo argued.

"_She won't find out anyways_," Nathan said calmly.

"_You'd better be right for our daughter's sake_," Repo growled before disappearing.

Nathan watched sorrowfully at both Phoenix and Shilo before turning to look at Marni. His fingers slid against her picture, hoping his wife would pop out from it instead of staring intensely at him. He turned back to his daughter and his friend. He noticed Phoenix looking at him with a pleading look. Her expression was too comical that he had to hide his smile under his hand. He started walking to Shilo's room, knowing it's time for Nathan to save the day once more.

"Why don't we have a snack? I'm sure you must be hungry from showing your collection to Phoenix, Precious," Nathan said in his caring fatherly tone.

"I am a bit hungry," Shilo said, now noticing how hungry she is.

"Great. I'll make something," Phoenix said happily. Nathan raised his right brow in confusion.

"I can't let a guest do the work," Nathan told her. Phoenix chuckled before patting Nathan's shoulder.

"I'm your friend, Wallace, not a guest. Big difference. And anyways, we are making a snack together, so I'm not doing all the work," Phoenix told him with a big grin written on her face.

"What? But..." Nathan started, trying to object but Phoenix wouldn't let him.

"Hush, Wallace. Food tastes better when you work for it. When it comes to snacks, my brother and I make them together and share our hard work with each other. It's sort of a family thing," Phoenix told him, though Nathan saw a bit of sadness in her when she mentioned her brother.

"We should, Dad," Shilo said happily, "I want to know what I can make."

Phoenix smiled and patted Shilo's shoulder.

"We'll do something easy like a sandwich of sorts. Make any kind of sandwich you want," Phoenix told them.

"Anything I want?" Shilo asked. Phoenix nodded.

"It could be your favorite or something inventive. Any way you want it," Phoenix answered.

"_Anything, huh? Let's make a blood-filled one. That would be inventive_," Repo told inside Nathan's head.

"_Shut it_," Nathan warned.

"But we are in a pinch. I don't see any bread in the kitchen cabinets and there isn't that much of anything in the fridge," Phoenix said. She had already examined the kitchen before making breakfast.

"I'll go buy the groceries then. Just give me a list," Nathan said, volunteering.

Phoenix shook her head and said, "I'll do it. You need to stay with Shilo and watch over her."

"But..." Nathan started but Shilo spoke up.

"Why don't you two go together? I'm used to being alone," Shilo said, making Phoenix shocked.

"What?" Phoenix angrily said, "Wallace, you leave your daughter at home by herself? Don't you have anyone to look after her?"

Nathan was surprised at how angry Phoenix became, even Shilo was startled by the sudden change in mood. She almost looked like an angry mother. Almost.

"I can't believe you would leave your child unattended. Are you crazy?" Phoenix shouted. Well, maybe a bit more than almost.

"I, well..." Nathan started but still at a loss of words.

"Phoenix, don't be angry. It's just that Dad sometimes has to leave for work. Dad trusts me enough to look after myself," Shilo explained innocently. Phoenix looked over at the young girl before going to her eye level.

"Sorry if I scared you, Shilo, but a girl like you staying in a home by yourself is irresponsible," Phoenix told her then she looked over at Nathan. "The thing I hate the most is when the parent or parents are negligent of their children. I've seen too many children die or live in the streets. I rarely get angry about things, but something like this is something I can never turn the other cheek from. I know you won't let any danger come to Shilo, but she needs looking after when you are out on your job. I just... I know I have no right to tell you this, Wallace, but it has to be said."

"I understand, Phoenix. You were just worried," Nathan said. Now that he thinks about it, it really is dangerous to leave his daughter by herself all alone at her age. Phoenix looked at him for a moment and sighed. Awkwardness seemed to be evident now between Nathan and her, and he wondered if she was still angry with him.

"I'm gonna buy the groceries then. Both of you write down your ingredients in a separate piece of paper. It's much more fun if none of us knew what we are making, excluding me since I'm buying the stuff," Phoenix said, smiling a bit to rid of the intense air she made.

"Sure," Shilo said happily before running up the stairs.

"When I'm finished with my grocery list, I'll give you the money," Nathan said. Phoenix laid a hand on her hip and used her weight on the same side.

"Wallace, I'm sure I have enough on me to pay for it," Phoenix told him, her eyes penetrating Nathan's. Nathan could feel the intensity of her stubbornness emitting from her.

Nathan gave Phoenix a smile before going to his own to write down his ingredients. He was still giving her the money whether she liked it or not.

"_Wow, your friend got some anger in her, doesn't she? Very interesting_," Repo said thoughtfully, flashing the scene of when Phoenix found out Shilo was left alone in the house.

"_Within good reason. She was worried for Shilo's safety. She's a good woman_," Nathan told him. He could feel Repo roll his eyes in reply.

"_Look, I'm not interested in your lady friend. I don't like red heads_," Repo replied.

"_I never said you were_," Nathan spat, "_And even if you were, I wouldn't allow it._"

"_Oh really?_" Repo challenged.

"_Really_," he answered seriously.

"_Remember who the monster is, Nathan. It's not you, it's me. Don't forget that_," Repo growled low with smugness to it.

"_I could never forget_," he growled back, but his was more of disgust, "_You are my other half of the whole_."

"_Good_," Repo said before chuckling away with his gravelly voice before disappearing.

Though the door to Nathan's room was already open, Phoenix knocked on his door anyways. She had already gotten Shilo's list and she just needed Nathan's list. When there was no reply, she apologized quietly before she only allowed her head to peek in the room. It was then she turned her attention to Nathan's desk and noticed Nathan staring blankly in front of him as if he was in his own little world. She had seen that look several times before from him, but she never really thought of it as strange.

"_Everyone deserves an escape from reality_," Phoenix thought before going back downstairs again and just waited patiently for his list to be finished. "_Now, how much money do I have in my pocket?_"


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N**: Thank you to **UroborosTyrant** and **Queenoftheworldintraining** for the reviews. Hope you two will like this chapter as well. It's quite a normal chapter actually. Nothing out of the ordinary and not Repo standards, but I find it to be a nice chapter. Repo world can't always be crazy, right? There should at least be some sort of normalcy even if it is the slightest bit.

Chapter Seven

Nathan, Phoenix, and Shilo sat in the dining room as each had a plate of their sandwich creations on the table. They looked at each other before they each took an empty plate and filled it up with each creation. Nathan's creation was a tuna salad sandwich which was cut diagonally. It was simply his favorite sandwich to eat. Shilo's creation is a peanut butter and chocolate sandwich shaped like insects using a cookie cutter. Shilo was quite proud of her creation. And lastly, Phoenix made cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese and a secret ingredient added into it. They were traditionally cut in rectangles.

"They came out great," Shilo said happily with a smile when she tasted her creation first.

"I do hope I made mine right. It's been so long I made a tuna sandwich," Nathan said, eating his own creation first as well.

"I must say, Shilo, yours win the most creativity," Phoenix complimented Shilo when she tasted Shilo's sandwich. This completely made Shilo smile happily. "As for yours, Wallace, you put a little too much dill pickles, but other than that you put in the right proportions to the rest of the ingredients."

Nathan smiled shyly and chewed his sandwich with a smile, to be complimented by Phoenix made him feel good. Phoenix was right. Food tastes better if they work together to make something.

"Yeah, Dad! Your tuna sandwich tastes great," Shilo chirped. His joy became greater when Shilo complicated him.

"Your peanut butter and chocolate sandwich is perfect, Precious," Nathan told Shilo after he took his first bite from her sandwich. Shilo blushed and smiled brilliantly.

Phoenix couldn't help but smile at the father and daughter. Her eyes were brimmed with tears suddenly as she remembered her brother and herself. Nathan stopped when he noticed Phoenix was about to cry.

"Phoe-" Nathan was about to call out, but Phoenix interrupted.

"I've got to excuse myself for a bit," Phoenix said, hoping she maintained her normal voice as she said it. She walked away before she finally let the tears fall when she was away from Nathan and Shilo.

Luckily, Shilo didn't notice. It would have made Phoenix feel bad if she spoiled Shilo's cheery attitude. Nathan had to stay with Shilo, so she wouldn't notice there was anything wrong with Phoenix. He let out a small smile whenever Shilo wanted his attention, but his mind was worried about Phoenix. It was obvious to Nathan that she must be crying about her memories with her brother. Nathan did the same thing as well whenever he thought about Marni or when something or someone reminded him of her. The memories he had with his wife would always be cherished though it sometimes haunts him.

Phoenix came back a few minutes later. Nathan obviously knew she was crying when her eyes looked red and puffed. Nathan stood up and told Shilo to go to her room for a bit. And of course, Shilo wanted to ask why but knew better. She did as she was told, disappearing upstairs. Nathan looked over at Phoenix, waiting for her to speak. As if Phoenix understood, she started talking.

"I need time to heal," Phoenix told him. Nathan nodded in understanding. She gave a small smile towards him. "I'm going out for a bit."

"Where are you going?" Nathan asked worriedly.

"I'm going to pack up my stuff at my apartment."

Nathan stared at her for a moment.

"What?" Phoenix asked.

"Remember you are staying here tonight," Nathan reminded her. Phoenix nodded.

"I'll be back, Wallace," she assured him before taking a few steps. She turned around to look at him one more time. She let out a smile , even though Nathan was not looking and said, "Since I have a reason to stay."

She left just as Nathan swiftly turned his head to look back at her. She was already out the door before he was given a chance to see her expression. Nathan couldn't help but smile at her last comment.

He had gone up to Shilo to check up on her. Shilo turned around immediately at hearing her doorknob turn. She was so excited and couldn't wait to speak to Phoenix about many things. All of her excitement dropped when she saw only her father enter the room without Phoenix anywhere to be seen.

"Where's Phoenix, Dad? Did you change your mind in letting her stay here? But you promised, Dad," Shilo said frantically. Nathan was amazed at how attached Shilo became with Phoenix. He tried to calm Shilo down when she started pacing back and forth about not being able to tell Pheonix everything she wanted.

"Calm down, Shi," he started but was interrupted by his daughter.

"How can I, Dad? You kicked her out," Shilo accused. Nathan sighed at his child thinking the worst of him.

"If you would listen to me, precious," Nathan said patiently. Shilo stopped her tracks and glared at him, waiting to hear what he had to say with an impatient look. Nathan sighed once again before he continued, "Phoenix is coming back. She just has to pack up her things at her apartment."

"Really?" Shilo asked with hopeful eyes. Nathan let out a small smile and nodded. Shilo looked so happy with the news.

It was rather surprising how fast a person can change their emotions just by something one wants to hear. Shilo suddenly hugged Nathan tightly and smiled brightly back at him. Nathan ran his fingers through Shilo's wig comfortingly.

"You seem fond of her," Nathan said. Shilo immediately nodded her head.

"It's because she's the only other person I've met other than you, Dad, but it isn't just that. Phoenix is nice and she listens and talks to me. She likes my insect collection too and said that it was brilliant," Shilo explained. Nathan nodded while listening to his child continue to ramble.

It had been several hours before a white van parked in front of Nathan's house. He knew it belonged to Phoenix and went out to open the gate for her. She only took out a duffle bag and smiled at Nathan.

"Missed me?" she joked.

Nathan sighed tiredly.

"Shilo's been waiting for you. She even ordered me to check outside almost every five minutes to see if you have come back yet," Nathan told her.

Phoenix raised her right brow in question and asked, "Were you waiting by the door all this time?"

Nathan shrugged before Phoenix wrapped an arm around Nathan's shoulder. Nathan was surprised at her suddenly laying an arm around his shoulder. He looked over at Phoenix to see she was smiling.

"Sorry about that," Phoenix said before pulling her arm back from his shoulder, "I'm just happy with the call I had when I was getting back here. My boss let me have my job back and I found a place thanks to him."

"But you are still staying for the night, won't you?" Nathan asked. Phoenix nodded.

"If you don't mind, that is," Phoenix said. Nathan smiled and nodded.

"Of course, I don't mind," he answered.

"I would be able to move in my new place in three days. I guess I'll stay at a cheap hotel for the rest," Phoenix told him as they walked inside the house.

"I see. That's good," Nathan said, sounding disappointed. He was rather surprised of himself, but it seemed Phoenix didn't notice. She was quite preoccupied by her own good news.

"Thanks, Wallace. Oh yeah, about Shilo. Who will watch over her when you're out?" Phoenix asked, remembering about the problem. She looked back to Nathan for answers. "You need to find her a babysitter or something, Wallace. She shouldn't be left alone in a house."

"There is nothing to worry about, Phoenix. Shilo's safe as long as she stays inside. I already made precautions to ensure her safety. Nothing bad will happen," Nathan explained. Phoenix sighed before looking up at the stairs before turning back to Nathan.

"I trust you, Wallace. I could see you will do everything for little Shilo," Phoenix told him with a smile before she frowned and said, "I just don't want to see another child buried."

"I understand, Phoenix. I am grateful for your kindness," Nathan said with a small smile of his own.

"We should do something fun together," Phoenix suddenly suggested.

"Huh?"

"You, Shilo, and me having fun. You don't seem to be the sort to play games and stuff though," Phoenix said before Nathan looked a bit hesitant at the idea.

"What do you have in mind?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. What kind of activities do you two do for fun?" Phoenix asked. Nathan frowned as it's been so long he did anything with Shilo.

"I'm not too sure. It's been a very long time we did anything as a family," Nathan answered truthfully, "The last time Shilo and I spent time together was when she was only six. We only drew pictures and then she started to have an interest in collecting insects."

She was shocked at first before she sighed in irritation. It shouldn't have been that surprising to her as Nathan is a single parent who needed to work and had to spend less time with Shilo to earn what they had now. Phoenix made up her mind to think of something for them to do together until she finally had an idea seconds later.

Phoenix turned to her duffle bag and rummaged through it. Nathan stood behind her and took a peek. Phoenix smiled when she found a box. She slipped it out of her bag and turned around with Nathan backing away as she did so. She handed to Nathan for him to hold. He took it and inspected it.

"Let's play, shall we?" She asked. Nathan paused for a moment and looked over at Phoenix as if he is objecting to it. "C'mon, Wallace. It's not like I'm asking you to play a game every day."

"But this... I refuse to play this," Nathan told her. So much for her not forcing him.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Sorry for updating this one late. I am just into my other story that I didn't think about this story. Thank you to **Emoen**, **UroborosTyrant**, and **Queenoftheworldintraining** for the reviews. I also need to apologize for it being short, but I found it best to end at that point. I mixed some humor with some seriousness in this chapter. And of course, I found some sort of way to put in the games you guys thought of. Hope you like this chapter and enjoy! ^-^. **Edit**: Thanks to Emoen for telling me my mistake. I only noticed one, so I'm not sure if I missed anything else. I've been updating my stories all day today. Six (not eight but six, I unconsciously wrote down eight when I was looking at the chapter number. -.-'') stories in one day, whoop! Some of them are short around 800 words though. -.-

Chapter Eight

It was just a game. Nathan's mind kept on telling him so, but he glared at Phoenix with contempt. Phoenix just smiled smugly as she watched him make weird movements with his body. Shilo stared at her father with such concentration while having a quizzical look on her face. A few seconds later, her eyes widened and she stood up.

"A penguin!" Shilo shouted. Nathan's eyes brightened and he nodded before he let out a sigh of relief and sat next to Phoenix. It was finally Shilo's turn to go up.

"Lighten up, Wallace. It's just charades," Phoenix told him. Nathan glared at her again, and she just chuckled.

"I feel silly," Nathan muttered unhappily.

Phoenix shrugged and said, "Well, it was either playing with dress up or charades. I'm sure playing with old Barbie dolls is out of the question. You also don't seem to deem yourself as a dress up kind of guy." Nathan continued to glare at her but more fiercely this time. "If it makes you feel any better, you can laugh all you want when it is my turn."

"I will," Nathan said, "Oh yes, I will."

Phoenix rolled her eyes.

"C'mon guys. It's my turn," Shilo told them when she noticed her father and Phoenix weren't paying her any attention when it was her turn. She crossed her arms to show her discontent. Phoenix smiled and gave Shilo all of her attention.

"Sorry, Precious. You can start now," Nathan said and now looked at her acting out what was on the card.

After several attempts, Nathan had finally gotten what Shilo was acting out. She was supposedly a butterfly. He should have known it had something to do with insects when his daughter glowed in such happiness. And after a while, Shilo had won the game. Second place had to go to Nathan since he knew Shilo well and Phoenix was as good as she could be. Phoenix didn't mind losing, but she was aggravated with Nathan when he was having fun torturing her to pieces by making random guesses just to spite her for making him play the game. And of course, he kept his word in laughing at her when it was her turn to act. She was just as bad as he was.

"I want to play something else," Shilo said, seemingly more excited after the game of charades.

Nathan groaned. He didn't mind games, but anything to do with physical activities and girly things were out of the question, even though he had no choice in the matter when they played charades. Shilo asking him in her own little cute way was not something Nathan could decline. He sometimes wonder what sort of power Shilo had on him to obey her like this.

Phoenix smirked and relaxed on the couch of the living room and yawned a bit.

"You can look through my bag and see if there are any games you would like to play," Phoenix told Shilo. Nathan whipped his head to look at her. He was obviously shocked and uncomfortable. He then turned to glare at her bag and wondered what kind of evils lurked inside. If glares could burn holes, the bag would have surely been destroyed.

Meanwhile, Shilo was excited and ran to her bag. She started rummaging through Phoenix's clothes and other things she packed inside. Phoenix was rather surprised at how excited Shilo can be. She figured that Nathan and Shilo needed to spend more time together. After all, she was going to stay over for the night. She wanted to at least have a comfortable atmosphere.

"Ah ha!" Shilo shouted after she pulled something out. She held an old raggedy old box with some of the colors and pictures fading from it, but the game's title was still clear though faded it may be.

"Operation?" Phoenix asked. Shilo nodded and pointed at her father.

"Dad's a surgeon. Right dad?" Shilo said with an utmost smug smile on her face, showing how proud she is of her father.

"Ah, a surgeon, is he?" Phoenix asked, a smirk playing across her lips as she looked over at him. Her arms folded, and she gave out a mischievous aura that only Nathan found to be intimidating.

"Yup," Shilo confirmed.

Nathan froze. It wasn't truly a lie that he was a surgeon. Was, meaning he used to be. But then again, he was still a surgeon in some way. He still cuts open people's bodies. The only difference is that he was taking the organs out not putting them in.

"My grandmother gave this to me, but I'm not sure if you guys would like to play it. It is a rather old game," Phoenix said. Shilo smiled that energetic smile.

"I want to play it," Shilo said, giving the box to Phoenix.

"If you say so," Phoenix said before taking the box without any objection. On the other hand, Nathan felt uncomfortable. He wondered if he would look evil as he played the game. After all, his monster side always come out at the most inopportune times.

They started playing the game, but Phoenix realized she was good at the game. She couldn't help but smile at how frustrated Nathan looked at losing. For goodness sake's, he's a surgeon! How could he lose to such a game? Shilo couldn't help but giggle when she found her father to be a sore loser. He always talked about how surgery had such precision. In this game, he was not precise.

After the game was done, Phoenix and Shilo had such confident smiles while Nathan seemed oddly pissed off. He was supposed to win the game if anything, but how could he lose to Operation? He glared at Phoenix and thought the game was rigged.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything except play the game. It's your fault you were..." Phoenix tried to continue, but she couldn't contain her laughter any longer. Shilo couldn't help but laugh with her. Poor Nathan blushed in embarrassment. This game was terrible indeed.

"_Can't believe you lost to your daughter and even that woman is better than you. You're a legal assassin. What happened to your fucking precision?" _His repo side yelled at him in his mind.

"_Shut it_," Nathan yelled back in his mind. "_It's not my fault that game hates me_."

"_If I played_," Repo growled.

"_You did! You were the one taking over my hands, you insufferable monster_," Nathan yelled.

When Nathan made a point, his Repo side no longer disturbed him. It was one argument Nathan won, but he didn't feel too good about it when he lost to a game of Operation. Terrible. Terrible indeed.

"Ah, cheer up, Wallace. At least, we are finished playing a game for today," Phoenix said. That did nothing to help his mood. It actually made it worse.

"I want a do over," Nathan suddenly said while he crossed his arms. He wasn't going to play the game and win this time.

Shilo and Phoenix were surprised at his sudden competitive side. When the two females looked at each other and then back at Nathan, they smiled and said, "Sure!" in unison.

In the end, he lost once again though he did a little better than last time. All right, he did worse. So what? He wasn't going to admit that he is terrible at it. It's just a game after all, even though he didn't treat it as just a game. It was then Phoenix realized he was down right scary when it came to fun games.

The sun had started going down, and Shilo went to retire in her room for the day right before she drank her medicine. Phoenix was relieved to find herself relaxing on the couch after an exciting day. Nathan was sitting upon the opposite couch staring at her. After he calmed down from getting angry about losing, he finally wanted to ask a question to Phoenix when he found her in a good mood.

"Phoenix?" Nathan started, feeling quite nervous as he finally got the chance to talk to her about something serious.

"What is it, Wallace?" Phoenix gave her full attention towards Nathan. She noted how serious he looked and found herself ready to calmly answer.

"At the grave, I saw a knife next to you when you were unconscious. I... does it belong to you?" Nathan asked, his eyes staring at her intensely. He felt incredibly difficult to ask, but he needed to know. He had to keep his friend safe. Phoenix sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, it belongs to me. Why do you ask?" Phoenix questioned back, not at all lying or holding back the truth. It wasn't like she needed to hide anything.

"What were you-? Were you thinking about-? You know do the same thing as your brother after he died," Nathan could only say. It was hard to ask her if she was going to commit suicide, and he couldn't say those words all the more. He knew she didn't know he listened in on her conversation to herself. It was hard to hide that fact now.

Phoenix's eyes widened at him before she let out a sigh and leaned back on her couch.

"The question you were going to ask. Were you going to ask if I was going to commit suicide on my brother's grave?" Phoenix asked. Nathan hesitantly nodded his head. Phoenix just smiled before she suddenly let out a sad laugh and shook her head.

"Don't make such conclusions, Wallace. I'm not that weak. To answer your question, no. I'm not the kind of person to commit suicide even when hard times come. If I did, I would have killed myself a long time ago. And anyways, my brother wanted me to keep on living. He wrote it on the note the day he died. If he had asked me to do something, I would do it. Even with the note, I would have not killed myself either way," Phoenix answered. She found herself fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. It was difficult to think about her brother, and it was even harder to talk about it.

"Then what about the knife?" He asked, slightly startled at the answer. He was relieved, but he was confused about what happened that night. Did he come to the wrong conclusion?

Phoenix shook her head at the thought of the Repo Man as he asked that question.

"I only wanted to mark my brother's name on his grave. Do you think I would allow my brother to go unnamed like all the other unmarked graves? If it wasn't for that bastard of a Repo Man interfering, I would have already carved out my brother's name by then. It was the last thing I could do for my brother, and he deserve his name on his grave," Phoenix answered with indignation.

Nathan was surprised. All she wanted to do was carve her brother's name on his make-shift grave. Nathan felt stupid, yet he would never regret it. He would rather take the chance than not knowing what would happen. He let out a sigh of relief before he made his way towards her and sat next to her. He took her hand with his and looked at Phoenix in the eyes.

"I'm glad you are alive, Phoenix. I don't think I would handle it if anything were to happen to you," he told her truthfully. Phoenix was shocked for a second before she started laughing. Nathan wondered what was so funny when he was being rather serious.

"You make it sound like I'm your lover, Wallace. Don't talk like that," she pointed out. She suddenly took Wallace's hands on hers and put it on top of her chest. Nathan suddenly blushed as his hand was close to the middle of her breasts. Phoenix rolled her eyes before slapping the back of his head. "Don't think anything perverted."

Nathan winced at the blow and nodded, not saying another word. Women were truly scary even his wife scared him when she was tempermental.

"With this hand of yours on my heart, I, Phoenix, will promise not to do anything that results in me taking my own life," she said as if making a contract. She laid her hand back on his lap and smiled. "Better?"

Nathan was a bit speechless, but he couldn't help but smile and nod.

"Very," he told her.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N**: I do apologize for not updating for a while now. I've been too busy, and I was addicted to playing a game. lol. Thanks to **Emoen** (Hahaha, I've been writing the other story all day and then wrote this while I was writing. Lina's name kind of stuck with me since Phoenix is similar to Lina in a way. lol) and **UroborosTyrant** (lol, yeah, the irony is fun. I've been reading some Nathan fics that take him too seriously, so I wanted to lighten up his character for a bit) for your reviews. Hope you like this one! Shilo is whiny this chapter, but what can I say? She is still a child. Happy Mother's Day, and I hope those who care about their mothers to appreciate them on this day (although it's much better to appreciate them every day)! **Edit**: Thank you to **Emoen** for correcting me again once more of my mistakes. I really need to stop writing both Repo stories at the same time. Oh, and the game I was playing is Harvest Moon, it's a farming rpg game. Some people find it boring, but I just like to play it because it's fun.

Chapter Nine

Before they knew it, it was already morning. Phoenix had taken to making breakfast for the father and daughter once again. The fresh smell of food could not be left unnoticed. Phoenix could hear an immediate rush from the stairs. She scrunched her brows wondering who was rushing. Her unspoken question soon was answered when Shilo entered the kitchen with glowing eyes and a happy expression. Phoenix chuckled and shook her head at the girl's energetic morning mood.

"Are you usually this excited?" Phoenix asked. Shilo suddenly frowned a little and shook her head, looking down at her shoeless feet.

"No, not really," she said in an almost whispered volume.

Phoenix stared at the girl before her. She wondered what kind of life Shilo was living in. She shook her head, not allowing herself to think too much and pry into other people's lives.

"Well, I hope breakfast is to your taste. I made some pancakes and some eggs and toast," Phoenix told her as she flipped a pancake successfully. Shilo saw and clapped. Her mouth was open and at awe from the refreshing display.

"That's so cool! Will you teach me?" Shilo asked. Phoenix turned off the stove and laid the pancake with the rest and looked at Shilo and chuckled.

"Sure. Maybe I will visit some time," she replied before turning back and started setting the table.

Shilo immediately frowned again. She had forgotten Phoenix was only staying for the night, and it made it that much harder for Shilo to watch her leave.

"Phoenix?" Shilo called out her name in a whisper.

"Hm?" She sounded, focusing on putting plates down. Her back was still facing Shilo.

"Can't you stay? Like... longer?" Shilo asked. Phoenix stopped and turned around. She was faced with a pleading look.

Phoenix sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry, kiddo, but I can't," she answered. Shilo walked over to her, her feet dragging as she did so.

"Why not? Is it me? Are you worried Dad wouldn't want you to stay? I could talk to him. If it's me, I can change, so please stay," Shilo pleaded, tears already starting to form in her eyes.

Phoenix winced as she felt hurt and guilt to see the little girl cry before her, and it hurt more when Shilo asked and said those things to her. She hugged the girl against her. She brushed her fingers through Shilo's black wig to soothe her.

"It's not you, and it's not your dad," she said comfortingly.

"Then why? Don't you like us?" Shilo asked, embracing her like a daughter would do to her mother.

Phoenix winced once again. That question was uncalled for. Phoenix sighed before she heard the door creak. Phoenix looked up and saw Nathan coming in. He stopped midway into the kitchen when he saw Phoenix holding onto a crying Shilo.

"What happened?" Nathan asked, a look of concern spreading across his face.

Shilo turned around and looked at her father accusingly as if he had done something wrong. Nathan was completely surprised and confused. He wondered why she was angry with him.

"Can't you find a way to make Phoenix stay, Dad?" Shilo asked him as if Phoenix wasn't there. Nathan looked over at Phoenix as if asking her to tell him what to do. He seemed quite at a loss to answer that question. Phoenix noticed and found it best that she spoke up.

"Shilo, even if I'm not staying here, you'll see me when I come over and visit," Phoenix told the young girl. Shilo shook her head and looked about ready to cause a storm.

"It's not the same!" Shilo yelled before running out of the kitchen. Phoenix looked over at Nathan worriedly. He sighed and walked over and patted her shoulder.

"I'll talk to her," Nathan told her. She nodded.

"I guess me staying here was a bad idea. I'm sorry for being a burden," she said quietly with a sigh escaping her lips.

Nathan froze and looked over at her.

"You are a miracle. Don't think otherwise," he told her before he walked away. He frowned as he left the kitchen. He had heard everything before he went into the kitchen. He waited for the right time to enter, but things started to spiral down when Shilo started becoming more emotional. He had no choice to enter to prevent anything else that may happen. He was also unhappy that today was the day Phoenix was leaving his house. Just one day. One day had changed everything.

He knocked on Shilo's door. And of course, she replied with a yell that she didn't want to see anyone. Nathan sighed and shook his head. He could feel a headache coming on, and he knew his Repo side was going to taunt him soon enough and take over if he didn't calm down.

"Shilo, I know you like Phoenix, but she has her own life to live. We can't stop her from leaving. If you like Phoenix, you need to let her go," Nathan said a little louder over the door so she could hear him.

He heard a thump and footsteps before Shilo opened her door. He saw tears were already falling from her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"I don't want her to leave, Dad. It hurts," Shilo told him. Nathan held her in an embrace and gently stroked her wig.

"I know. But the good thing is, she will visit. You could at least see her once in a while instead of never, right Precious?" Nathan told her. He could hear her sniffle and nodded against his stomach.

"I- I guess," Shilo answered softly. Nathan smiled and got to her level.

"Now, how about you wash your face and we could eat breakfast with Phoenix before we say goodbye to her?" Nathan told her, but tears started forming in Shilo's eyes again when she heard the word "goodbye". She nodded anyways and pulled away from her father. She dragged her feet to the bathroom. Nathan watched her enter the bathroom and sighed.

He came downstairs and saw Phoenix in the living room, starting to pack. He winced at the scene but was thankful that her back was turned. It hurts to watch her pack, and he didn't want to show how hurt he was. And for some reason, it reminded him of the time Marni packed her things because of an argument they had once, and she left to live with Mag for a few days before returning.

"_Marni_," he thought. He could feel his whole body run cold at the thought of his wife. And soon, flashback of that horrible moment entered his mind. There was so much blood. Her blood.

"-ace? Wallace!" A voice yelled at him. He blinked to see a worried Phoenix in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Nathan felt uncomfortable for some reason and nodded.

She flicked his forehead with her fingers. Nathan felt a slight pain from the action and held his forehead. He looked at her questioningly, wondering why she did that. One of her hands were on her hip and she looked at him seriously. Nathan could feel a lecture coming on.

"Do you think I would believe you are okay when you seem like you are tearing up," Phoenix asked.

He looked down and his shoulders were slumped. Phoenix compared him to a kid being ashamed or guilty of something for being caught. She shook her head and she started to massage her temples as if a headache was going to come on.

"How is Shilo doing?" Phoenix finally asked before sitting down on the nearest couch and sighed. Nathan looked over at her and sighed. He seated next to her and looked into her jade green eyes.

"She is trying to cope," he answered simply. Phoenix leaned back and closed her eyes while she nodded her head.

"She's a good girl," Phoenix answered, "It's too bad her mother died so early. I'm sure she will grow up just as beautiful as her mother."

Nathan froze at the mention of Marni, and he could feel the guilt running through his body. It was when Phoenix laid a hand on his shoulder did the feeling leave him.

"If you need me, just call," Phoenix told him with a smile and a wink. Nathan chuckled and nodded.

"Of course and we could get some coffee before I go to work."

Phoenix nodded in agreement.

"Sure, but your co-workers are annoying. I still don't know what you did to be treated like that," Phoenix said.

"_Aww, I feel bad for hiding the truth. I could always show the little birdie why_," Repo Nathan's gravelly voice told in Nathan's mind. Nathan could hear the blood lust in his voice, and he snarled in his mind.

"_Don't you dare, you insufferable piece of_-" Nathan started, but Repo side started chuckling.

"_Aww, is the little Nathan finally ready to talk some shit?" _Repo taunted.

"_Shut. Up_," Nathan told him.

The conversation between him and his Repo side was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the living room. Young Shilo entered with her head hung low. Phoenix looked at Nathan and then at Shilo. She didn't know what to say in this situation, so she kept silent.

"I'm sorry," Shilo whispered, loud enough for Phoenix and Nathan to hear.

Phoenix let out a breath of relief and smiled.

"No need to apologize, Shilo. So how about that breakfast?" Phoenix told her and then looked at Nathan.

In no time, Shilo looked up and nodded. A small smile was then expressed on Shilo's lips. Nathan smiled and hugged Shilo around the shoulders to comfort his little girl. She was being such an adult in her young age.

"The food is a little cold, but a little heating up wouldn't hurt," Phoenix said energetically this time.

Breakfast would have been delicious if it weren't for Phoenix leaving, but it turned out okay in the end. She didn't need to pack much since there wasn't much to pack.

"Well, it's time to say goodbye," Lina said before putting the bag over her shoulder, "Thanks for the stay, Wallace."

"You're welcome, Phoenix," he told her before patting her shoulder. He wanted to do more than that, but Nathan knew he would feel awkward to hug her before she left.

It was sudden, but Shilo was clinging onto her like her life depended on it. Phoenix smiled and returned the tight hug. She looked over at Nathan and winked at him once more. He felt his face slightly heat up on his cheeks as she did so.

Phoenix's wrist started showing her boss's face from her wrist communicator. She looked at it oddly when she heard her boss's name being called out from it. She took the call and started speaking.

"Yeah? Is there something wrong, boss?" Phoenix asked.

"Um... Phoenix, I have bad news. You know the apartment I told you about?" He started off nervously. Phoenix could feel the bad news come up, and Nathan seemed quite hopeful at the terrible news.

"Yeah? What about it?" She asked, looking down at Shilo. She can't believe how large Shilo's eyes could get, knowing full well the news was bad at the sound of her boss's tone. She could see the tug on her lips going upward. She winced at how desperate Shilo wanted her stay in the house.

"Well, the apartment's landlord had gotten himself Repoed. There aren't any specifics when a landlord would be replaced, and I'm sure there won't be a replacement any time soon," her boss explained.

Phoenix winced and looked over to Shilo's sparkling eyes full of joy. She groaned and laid a hand on her forehead while her head tipped back for a second from feeling frustrated. She turned to look over at Nathan, who seemed to have a slight smirk on his face. Phoenix found it odd, but she did not question it.

"All right. I guess I'll find another place to stay for now then. Thanks for everything though, Boss. You've done a lot for me, and I'm truly grateful," Phoenix told him.

"I'm very sorry for your predicament, Phoenix. If my home has enough space, I would have surely let you stay for a while," her boss told her. Phoenix chuckled slightly.

"I'm sure you will, Boss," she paused for a moment and then continued, "But I'll be okay. I'll find a place. I always do."

Her boss gave a slight chuckle, and Phoenix could mentally see her boss nodding his head as he did so. She couldn't help smile herself. And a second later, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to the only one tall enough to touch her shoulder. Nathan gave her a comforting smile, and all Phoenix could do was sigh. For some reason, it felt like a set-up to her, but Phoenix knew her boss would never talk about a Repo Man so lightly.

"I'm relieved to know that you are taking the news rather well," her boss told her, "I was a little worried about you, but I'm just glad you are okay. Well, that's all I need to tell you. I've got to go. I will see you at work tomorrow morning?"

Phoenix chuckled and said, "Yeah. I'll be there. See ya, Boss. Stay safe."

"Yeah, you too," he told her before the call ended.

Phoenix's shoulders slumped and she let out a disappointed sigh. It was then she felt a tug on her shirt that she realized Shilo was still hugging her. She looked down to see a hopeful look on Shilo's pale face. The look made her feel more uncomfortable than anything. She then turned her head to look at Nathan. She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly closed it. She couldn't ask him for a favor, and the thought about staying at a cheap hotel seemed much more inviting than being burdensome to her friend. She finally came to a decision. Before she said anything though, Nathan spoke up.

"Why don't you stay here until you've got a place to stay? Shilo and I don't seem to mind at all," Nathan told her. Phoenix winced but shook her head.

"I'll just stay in a cheap hotel; it wouldn't be too bad. After all, I lived in the slums before," Phoenix answered.

Nathan didn't like it. Cheap hotels meant there were prostitutions being held there, and there were are a lot of perverts around. And of course, there were other dangers held in cheap hotels. He couldn't allow such dangers fall upon Phoenix.

"No!" Nathan yelled a little too desperate and quick, making Shilo and Phoenix a little shocked by the outburst. Nathan cleared his throat and push up his glasses as if it would help ease his sudden outburst. "Um... I meant you should stay because I could use the help as well. I need someone to watch over Shilo at night, and I was hoping... you would help me."

Phoenix looked at him for a moment then at Shilo's puppy-eyed look and then back at Nathan again. She couldn't stand Shilo's expression, and Nathan was irritating her even more for giving Shilo hope to stay, which meant that she had no other say in the matter.

She let out a defeated sigh and said, "Let me see if I can work around my schedule."

And there it was, the jumping up and down excitedly by Shilo who started to ramble all of a sudden. Phoenix felt her life had just gotten a little more difficult.

"_You idiot! Are you crazy? Well, you are, but that's not the point! She was only supposed to stay for the night. How are you supposed to take home the bodies and repossess their organs?_" Repo Nathan yelled in his mind.

Nathan scoffed inside his mind and shut Repo Nathan out. It was high time Nathan ignored that side of himself. Because truthfully, he wanted to do that for ages. He just didn't feel like it until now.

And just for an instant, he almost felt like he was home.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Wow, it's been so long I've updated anything. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to write anything at all on my long break so far. This chapter is kind of short, but I hope it is better than nothing. What do you think? Thank you to **Emoen** (Just in case, here's a repeat from last chapter. Thank you to **Emoen** for correcting me again once more of my mistakes. I really need to stop writing both Repo stories at the same time. Oh, and the game I was playing is Harvest Moon, it's a farming rpg game. Some people find it boring, but I just like to play it because it's fun. In a way, Phoenix doesn't like to be indebted to anyone. Just like she said before, she's not the kind to owe GeneCo) and **CrystalionTears** (True. Repo Nathan wouldn't be able to play puppets with his dead victims when he's cutting his victims open. Ah, how does a teenage Repo Nathan sound like? lol) for the reviews. Now, on with the story!

Chapter Ten

Phoenix sighed. Really, she did like the kid, but she can listen for so long before irritation started to kick in. Where was Nathan when she needed him? The man was evil. She knew he left them alone on purpose. Sadly, she tried her best to get through the copious amount of information she was receiving by the somewhat intelligent Shilo. Even though Shilo had book smarts, she lacked street smarts to survive. And when Nathan found a cure for Shilo, Phoenix was going to teach her the ways of life in this industrial world.

Before Shilo could speak any further, Phoenix finally spoke up to stop her. Shilo turned around from showing Phoenix her insect collection as well as describing in gory detail of the insides of each insect. There was such brilliance in Shilo's eyes in which Phoenix could not deny. She found the motherless child endearing. It was sudden, but Phoenix held her in an embrace. Shilo was caught by surprise but felt happy at the warmth. She hugged her in return. Shilo could smell the musty smell of sweat, maybe from Phoenix busying herself from taking out some things from her van so she could feel at home. Her father had apparently cleaned up a vacant room, which he did not do so earlier when Phoenix first stayed for the night. It was finally habitable when he cleared up the generous amounts of boxes filled inside the room. Thankfully, Phoenix and Shilo helped out.

"If your mother was alive, she would be proud at how beautiful and intelligent you are," Phoenix whispered. Shilo tensed up for a short time before tears started to form in her eyes.

"Thank you, Phoenix. Thank you so much," Shilo whispered in return while her tears fell from her eyes. Phoenix smiled even though she would have a wet spot on her shirt.

After a moment, Nathan started knocking on the door and came in with a tray of simple snacks. The females both turned around and smiled at Nathan. Nathan let an uncharacteristic smile spread across his face in return. He wasn't used to smiling, it seems. There was always a barrier that prevented him to do so, but this was an exception. It felt nice for once. It wasn't one of those fake smiles he usually gives Shilo when he kissed her good night. It was a genuine smile this time around. A truly warm smile.

"Thanks for the snacks, Wallace," Phoenix said before taking up the tray out of his hands, "You are going to snack with us, right?"

Nathan smiled and wondered if he should tease her by leaving. But then again, she would kill him if he left her alone with Shilo again. Thinking about the many nasty outcomes that may come up from leaving them alone had made Nathan silently cringe.

"Yes, of course," he answered with a curt nod.

"Ah, I've been wondering for a while," Shilo paused and looked up from Phoenix to Nathan. Phoenix and Nathan looked at her questioningly. When she thought she had their attention, she continued. "Why does Phoenix call you Wallace, dad? Don't friends go by a first name basis?"

Phoenix and Nathan looked over at each other momentarily, and Nathan did not know the answer as well. He looked at Phoenix for answers as he would like to know as well. Phoenix, on the other hand, had an answer. She just smiled at how curious Nathan looked.

"Well, your dad looks too serious. It looks fitting if I used his last name. Unless he lightens up, I might call your dad by his first name," Phoenix said. With a teasing smile, she said, "Don't you think, Nathan. Or would Nate sound better?"

Nathan blushed and felt a little flustered like a school child when she called out his name in such a teasing way. Both girls were amazed by the rare opportunity to see a flustered Nathan. The girls then looked at each other before they went into a fit of giggles.

Nathan was a little shocked and wondered what they were laughing about.

"Wallace, your expressions are priceless," Phoenix said through her fit of giggles. She leaned over and clutched her stomach from the pain of laughing and so did Shilo. Their faces were red and tears started to form in their eyes.

"Yeah, dad. You look like a shy kid like that," Shilo stated. Their laughter started to go a volume higher when Nathan glared and crossed his arms with a look of frustration. His brow creased and his lower lip protruded to make him almost look too comical.

"Both of you stop laughing," Nathan warned. They both immediately stopped but their lips quivered and their hands covered their lips, trying their best to stop their giggling.

"W- well, I guess I'd better start unpacking then," Phoenix told them while she started to calm down from her excessive laughing. Nathan nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I ordered a new bed for you, so it would come within a week. I guess you can stay in my room until the bed comes," Nathan told her. Phoenix looked over at him and smiled.

"Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience. And no, I'm not going to use your bed, Wallace. I can sleep on the floor of my room or on the couch. It wouldn't be that bad," Phoenix said.

"But Phoenix, I can't let you sleep on the floor or on the couch. Your a woman for a goodness sakes. One night on the couch is already too much," Nathan lectured but Phoenix rolled her eyes seemingly unfazed.

"I've had times when I slept on the floor or on the couch. It's nothing new to me," Phoenix said, "Besides, I feel uncomfortable sleeping on a man's bed."

"Daddy does have a weird smell," Shilo interjected. Phoenix hid a smile at the comment and Nathan, of course, was none to happy about it.

"All right, but I'm going to check to see if I have any air beds," Nathan said giving up, knowing full well he was going to lose the fight.

"I'll help!" Shilo said energetically with her hand raised high as if she was a school girl and knowing an answer to a question.

"Okay, Shi, but only if you are within my field of vision. I don't want you getting injured," Nathan said in a fatherly tone. Shilo crossed her arms and her lower lip protruded.

"Daddy," Shilo whined, "You're embarrassing me."

Phoenix chuckled and put an arm around Shilo and her other arm around Nathan.

"You guys make me want to have a family of my own," Phoenix joked. Shilo and Nathan blushed at the comment.

"L-let's go, Shilo. We should find that air bed. Why don't you start unpacking, Phoenix?" Nathan said, taking Shilo's wrist. Shilo turned to Phoenix and blushed.

"Um... Phoenix?" Shilo started. Nathan waited for Shilo to finish before pulling her out of Shilo's room in embarrassment.

Phoenix looked over at Shilo and quirked her eyebrow.

"Hm?" Phoenix sounded.

"Wh-why don't you become part of our family?" Shilo asked shyly. Phoenix looked at her for a moment before she slightly tilted her head down as if in thought. Meanwhile, Nathan's eyes widened in shock and a red tint started to form on his ears.

"Sh-Shilo! W-we should get going," Nathan stuttered while he mentally cursed himself for feeling embarrassed. He didn't wait for Shilo to respond before he yanked her out of the room.

Phoenix merely stared at the door momentarily before shrugging and getting back into her room. If only Phoenix realized the meaning beneath the innocent suggestion, she would understand why Nathan was flustered and why Shilo's eyes seemed to sparkle with hope.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N**: *nervous laughter* I apologize for not updating this story for a long, long time. After a while, I could only get this chapter out. It's short, so I do apologize. I would like to thank **Ibbi**, **Flipped-Out-Soldier**, **Emoen**, and **Romanadvoratrelunder AKA Fred** for the reviews. Sadly, I might only update this once in a while. I really am sorry for those who are waiting eagerly for the updates for this story. And again, this is a somewhat a light-hearted story, so there wouldn't be too much gore or language in them (except for some gore and language from Repo Nathan or Luigi if I ever put him in the story). Hope you enjoy this chapter. **Disclaimer**: Once again, I do not own the original Repo! The Genetic Opera or its original characters.

Chapter Eleven

Repo Nathan growled unhappily as he worked upon one of his victims. He slashed in an incredible speed yet with such precision as if he was making art. He quickly pulled and yanked before he set the organ inside the freezing box. He was frustrated that he couldn't do this at his own home. Usually, he would take his precious time in tormenting his victims before he slowly let them die and then play puppet after their final breath. Women, on the other hand, were left alone. He had enough dignity to let them die quickly and take out their repossessed organ.

Just as he finished bringing in the last organ for the day, Repo Nathan disappeared and Nathan took control of his body. He couldn't wash himself at home, so he cleaned his uniform and took a shower in the GeneCo building. It was a little difficult since the other Repo Men used the shower room to free their _desires_ onto Genterns or other females in the vincity. Genterns even tried to seduce Nathan just as he entered the room. Of course, Nathan had no desire for them and clearly told them to leave him alone. Fortunately, they did or else Nathan would unleash Repo Nathan if he had to tell them twice.

After he showered and cleaned his uniform, his whole body suddenly felt heavy after the day's event of his job. Repo Nathan took a lot of stamina out of Nathan. Things changed quickly when he let his heavy body enter his own home. When he suddenly let his body fall on the couch, he heard a woman's chuckle. He looked towards the sound and saw Phoenix wearing a cute apron. It was pink and frilly, something that would look perfect on Shilo if she ever liked pink.

"I see you are all tired out. You hungry?" She asked looking at Nathan warmly. Nathan couldn't help but smile and feel happy that someone cared for him other than his daughter.

"If it isn't too much work," Nathan told her. Phoenix shrugged and entered the kitchen. Nathan got off the couch and followed her.

He could smell a nice aroma filling his nose. He let out a sigh of content, knowing he would eat Phoenix's cooking. He could also feel his whole body relax and the aches slowly disappearing from his mind.

"I made stew because the weather tonight is getting colder than usual. I just need to heat it up for you," Phoenix told him as she turned on the stove where a big pot was already placed. "Shilo and I already ate since we didn't know when you were coming home. I tucked her in bed for you and made sure she took her medicine."

Nathan listened with closed eyes and his smile got bigger. It felt different to have a woman tell him this. Somehow, he felt perfectly content it was her. Her voice seemed to soothe him that even he didn't seem to notice until now.

Phoenix turned her head to see Nathan nodding off. She smiled and shook her head at how Nathan tried to stay awake. She went towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Get some rest. I'll wake you when the food is ready," she told him softly. Nathan shook his head and placed his hand on top of hers where it laid on his shoulder.

"I'm fine. If I doze off, I will completely be knocked out," he answered.

Phoenix sighed and shrugged.

"Your choice." She walked and went back to checking on the stew. When she noticed it boiling, she started to stir so the stew would be heated throroughly throughout. "It's almost finished, Wallace."

She turned to smile at him. Nathan smiled back and nodded. He always seemed to find a way to feel content with her, even if his body was aching and all tired out. He heard a click from the stove, meaning Phoenix turned off the heat. He saw her pouring the stew into the bowl with a ladle. And immediately, he could smell the aroma more clearly. When Phoenix was done, she put the bowl in front of him with the spoon on the side. Nathan looked at the stew and smiled. It looked so good and smelled so pleasant that Nathan felt like drooling. He must have been really hungry when he heard his stomach growl. He blushed and slightly glanced at Phoenix, hoping she didn't hear it. But of course, she did. She chuckled and sat next to him.

"Eat up, Wallace. You definitely deserve it," she told him.

Nathan nodded and scooped up his first spoonful and put it in his mouth without blowing onto it, too embarrassed about his stomach growling to do so. Immediately, he regretted the action. His tongue got burned and he waved frantically in the air as if it would soothe his burning tongue. Phoenix sighed and shook her head with a hidden amused smile. She got up and got a glass of water for Nathan. He thanked her incoherently since his tongue was hurt. Just as the water touched his tongue, it felt a little numb but still stinging. He carefully continued to eat his stew and blowed onto it this time.

"You really need to be careful," Phoenix told him. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It was way too funny to see Nathan being incredibly clumsy.

"Hmph," Nathan answered in a pout of embarrassment.

Phoenix ignored his pout and took out a folded piece of paper from her back pocket. Nathan watched her skimming through it and wondered what she was looking at. He wasn't usually nosy, but he wanted to know.

"What are you looking at?" Nathan asked.

"Grocery list," she answered simply, "I'm going to buy them after work tomorrow."

"Oh."

"You want anything? Like snacks or something?" Phoenix asked, continuing to look at the list. He thought for a bit and found nothing he wanted.

Nathan shrugged and said, "No."

He continued to eat his stew while taking a few glimpses at the woman before him. When he had finished, he let out a relieved sigh. Phoenix was already putting the leftovers into the fridge. When she heard clinking of his spoon and bowl put into the sink, she looked over to him. He was already ready in washing his own dishes.

With a smirk, Phoenix went behind him and started massaging his shoulders. Nathan jumped a bit and tried to crane his neck to look at her. He felt uncomfortable by the sudden intrusion of her hands onto his shoulders, but he sighed in content when he found out what she was trying to do. He relaxed himself as she continued to relieve the stress on his body.

"You are way too tense, Wallace. No wonder you are always so uptight and on the edge," Phoenix told him. Nathan said nothing, allowing himself to be soothed by her voice and massages. He let go of the spoon that he did not finish washing as it fell into the bowl again, making a light clinking noise. At first, he seethed from the pain, but he felt satisfaction. When he felt like his shoulders loosening, he moaned from the pleasurable feeling. It was then he felt a sudden pat on the back after his shoulders started slumping, waking him from his peace-filled mind.

"Get some sleep, Wallace," Phoenix said with a chuckle and pushing him out of the kitchen. He looked towards her in confusion, but she simply smiled and winked at him before closing the door behind him. She went back to the sink and started to wash the dishes in the sink, including Nathan's.

Nathan stood in front of the kitchen door in confusion after being kicked out. A moment after, he sighed and made his way into his room. Just as he looked into his room, his body suddenly felt tired. He made his way into his drawer and found his striped pajamas before carrying them into the bathroom with him. When he finished getting ready for bed, he went straight to his bed and lied on it. Immediately, his whole body relaxed from the comfort of his own bed.

When he closed his eyes, Phoenix suddenly flashed into his mind. A smile made its way onto his face before he let sleep overtake him. For the first time, he had a dream of a beautiful life with Shilo, him, and... Phoenix? They were having a picnic on fields of green. It had been a long time he had seen nature in its finest. All three of them seemed to be enjoying each other's company. Happy smiles were evident on each face. All Nathan could feel was a warm glow he had never felt in a long time, not after the loss of his Marni.

This time, all was well.


End file.
